Buildings Review

Released: Mar 22, 2010Genre: Alternative Rock, IndieLabel: Infectious RecordsNumber Of Tracks: 10
General Fiasco have managed to hit the Indie music scene, sounding different to other bands, which is a very hard thing to achieve.

Buildings
Reviewed by:
Blocpartyrocks, on april 06, 2010 1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sound: General Fiasco are an Indie band that started as many bands are today, on Myspace. They are among a huge number of Indie bands on Myspace that are trying to hit the music scene at the moment, such as Detroit Social Club and Bwani Junction, who have huge potential too. They are a young Irish band, and their potential outreaches them. They have a very common sound, but there seems to be something different about them, they seem to have original qualities that stop us from judging them as the common Indie band. The band consists of two brothers, Owen and Enda Strathern, and Stephen Leacock. They have toured with bands such as The Enemy and the Pigeon Detectives and they soon have a gig supporting Snow Patrol. // 9

Lyrics: General Fiasco have a great skill in their lyrics for being at such a young age. Their songs are unlike other Indie bands where all the lyrics seem to be about girls and sound the same. They are different and their lyrics cover a range of topics, many however are what we would expect a band of that age and popularity to be about. The singer has an amazing voice, sounding very different to how he sounds when he talks after listening to interviews and live sessions with them. Much of their sound if from his singing, which is good as it differs from other bands like them, using their music more than the singing. // 8

Overall Impression: General Fiasco have managed to hit the Indie music scene, sounding different to other bands, which is a very hard thing to achieve. They have picked the right song to be the title of the song as I feel this is the strongest song on the album. They have already managed to change the music scene as we know, and have the potential to continue to do so. They bring inspiration to other bands that have originated like them. Their music is easy to relate to and very easy to listen to. I believe they will be huge, and at such a young age they have a bright future in the music profession ahead of them. // 10

Buildings
Reviewed by:
niall the nail, on april 12, 2010 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sound: An indie rock three piece from norn iron' you say? Haven't we fallen for this before? To be quite honest I don't think General Fiasco fell for Ash as their sound is quite different. The sound may be described as generic indie pop rock, but certainly deserves to be up there with the best generic indie pop rock sounds to emerge in recent years. Everybody's trying to be something different in the business today; maybe it's about time somebody decided to be the same. The sound is very much guitar based with echoes of everything from the Strokes to the Kings of Leon and from the Foo Fighters to Bombay Bicycle Club. The bass lines are clearly written to fill that rhythm guitar gap in the live show and keep the songs moving along. Leakey's drumming shows what a difference having a damn good drummer can make to any band with some incredibly fast snare playing and freakishly fast hi-hat smashing. Enda's soaring guitar riffs in 'We Are The Foolish' and 'Please Take Your Time' are at times irresistible and show indie music at its most natural. The only low point of the album being the seriously over produced 'Sinking Ships', luckily in buying my album I got a free acoustic disc with it with an acoustic version of this tune that sounds absolutely incredible begging the question why they felt the need to change it. However the use of strings and brass in the title track 'Buildings' is very effective giving a much needed break from the formulaic indie tunes and shows a different dimension to the band, maybe a dimension worth exploring in the future. Sometimes the guitars become shockingly heavy (Please Take Your Time and First Impressions) making me ask when did Angus Young get here? For the most part the sound is effective and inspires energy within the listener helping give the album lots of replay value. // 9

Lyrics: Owen Strathern's lyrics seem to revolve around the turbulent lives of today's youths. Although the music may be upbeat for the most part, the lyrics are quite bleak. Ever So Shy at first glance seems like a drink encouraging simply having a good time pop tune but look deeper and we see a world were youths succumb to casual alcoholism out of mere boredom. The stick in your head for the rest of the day opening hook 'let's get wasted' now looks harshly ironic. That's not to say the General Fiasco crew are just sitting back and letting their friends throw their lives away! Not at all, songs like We Are the Foolish and Something Sometime (only on iTunes version) are encouraging people to 'Wake up, Wake up' and get out and do something meaningful with their lives 'don't you know, you gotta go something sometime'. The lyrics are sung as if they truly mean something and can surely resonate with their target audience as well as adding a depth to the album. The band doesn't shy away from adding some incredibly catchy hooks; all presented by Owen's high pitched yet surprisingly powerful vocals. // 10

Overall Impression: This band clearly aren't reinventing the wheel, just making it rounder. It's been done before, but these guys are going about improving it in all the right ways. Having caught the guys live twice I can say all the energy on the album is double in the live show, quite an achievement on the bands part. Buildings' is an excellent debut for the young band, the show opening Dancing with Girls' being my personal favourite. This album is a solid foundation for Fiasco to build upon and an exciting prospect for any music fans. Can't wait to hear where these guys go next. // 9

This review doesn't really make a lot of sense at some points, and to be quite honest it doesn't tell me squat about their actual music, except that they sound "very common" and yet "different." This seemed like an exercise in self-contradiction...

sorry, i realise now reading it over again it does sound very vague, hopefully i will write a new one soon which is more specific. It truly is an incredible album though, sorry if the review didn't convey that and if it has put you off getting it.